Just Like Her Mother
by The One-Shot Sphere
Summary: Emma Dupain-Cheng Agreste is in her early teens, and has developed feelings for Stephen, Nino and Alya's youngest son. She wants to tell him how she feels, but is scared of ruining a childhood friendship. As she ponders what to do, Adrien tells her a certain story that motivates her to make a decision.


**A little bit of a father-daughter moment between Adrien and Emma, plus some fluff. Enjoy! **

* * *

Emma Dupain-Cheng Agreste sat back in her chair, her arms flopping onto the table as she contemplated her situation. She looked down at her glass, staring as her reflection frowned back at her. Her hair was a blend of dark and electric blue, tied up in a ponytail with a pink ribbon. The lightest of freckles adorned her cheeks, leading up to eyes as sharp as her father's and flowing bangs to rival her mother's.

_Why did it have to be him, _she thought to herself. Any other boy and she would have just accepted it, but no. It had to be this one.

The boy in question was Stephen, Alya and Nino's youngest child and fellow Françoise Dupont high school student. Emma had been friends with Stephen since her early childhood, owing to the fact that his parents were close friends of her parents. For as long as she could remember, Stephen was somebody with whom she could be as tomboyish as she liked, and nothing would feel out of place. No conversation was off limits, and the immense freedom of their friendship was something she always appreciated and enjoyed.

But recently, Emma had started to see him differently. Every time she looked at him, she would get butterflies in her stomach that had never been there before. Even imaging his auburn-orange hair, golden-brown eyes and sweet, innocent smile made her a little nervous. And yet, despite being a childhood friend, the way he made her feel didn't disturb or disgust her. Although he was always somebody to be wild and mess around with, Stephen had never really felt like a 'brother' to Emma. Especially since his sweet, laid back persona was a stark contrast to her actual brother Hugo, who was a little ball of creative energy.

She groaned as she turned it all over in her mind, trying to make sense of her feelings. _Did he change? Not really, if he had I would have noticed. Maybe I changed? I don't think I did...maybe I've changed without knowing it? Wait, then has he noticed it? _

The questions continued to fly around her mind as she fought in vain to keep them at bay. There was no getting around it; somewhere along the line, she had fallen head over heels for Stephen.

As Emma continued to reflect on her predicament, Adrien walked into the room.

"Everything alright, sweetie?" he asked, noticing that she was deep in thought.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" she murmured, staring up at the ceiling.

Adrien gathered from her tone of voice that his daughter was very much less than fine. He leaned over, took one look at her face, and sighed. He knew that look all too well. The look of a lovesick dork.

"Are you thinking about someone?" He asked gently. Emma's sudden look of nervousness and surprise confirmed his suspicion.

After a short pause, Emma nodded. She knew from experience that there was no point denying anything once her father had figured it out.

"Is it a boy by any chance?" He asked.

Emma nodded again, this time more willingly. She could use someone to talk to about this anyways.

"It's alright Emma" said Adrien, pulling up a chair. "You can talk to me about anything, you know. Even boys."

Emma sighed. "All right, just don't tell anyone, please?"

"Not even mom?" Adrien chuckled.

"Okay, mom doesn't count." Said Emma, rolling her eyes. "I meant like Hugo and Louis."

Adrien laughed as he sat down at the table to listen. Emma wasted no time, diving into explaining how Stephen had gradually snuck into her heart, and she didn't know what to do about it. She talked about how she had been wanting to tell him for a long time now, and that the feeling of hiding it from someone she had always been very open with had been eating her alive the past few weeks.

"Is that one reason why you like him?" asked Adrien, very glad that Emma was comfortable being herself around him.

"I think? I mean it's always been that way though." she said. "And I never any feelings back then. But he didn't exactly change."

"I think he's changed more than you think." said Adrien wisely. "You've known him since you were toddlers." he smiled, recalling how adorably clumsy they both were. "To you it's been so gradual that you probably haven't noticed, but you've both changed."

"But I still feel the same way around him. Well, okay, I don't feel the same in _that_ way, but you know what I mean!"

"You mean you're still comfortable around him?"

"Yeah, and I'm kinda worried that I'm going to mess that up if I tell him." she said, burying her head in her hands.

Adrien leaned over and gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Sweetie, you've known him forever. I think your friendship's been going for too long to fall apart because of something like this."

_I guess that's true_, she thought. Stephen was very relaxed by nature, and even if it took some getting used to, he would probably be able to come to terms with it.

"Are you going to tell him?" asked Adrien.

"I want to, but I don't know if it's a good idea just yet." she said. "Besides, I'll have plenty of chances to do it right? I mean it'll be scary to tell him but at least I'm always free to, I guess."

Adrien sighed as a thought popped into his head.

"Well, actually, that's what I was about to mention" he said, letting out a sigh. "Not everyone has that privilege."

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking up. Adrien grinned as he leaned back into his chair.

"Let me tell you a story..."

"There was once a young girl, not unlike you. She was timid and shy, but underneath she had what it took to be a great leader. She was chosen to be a warrior, and she took up the task of protecting her people, but in secret. Nobody knew who she was, and nobody thanked her for it when she wasn't in disguise. She was responsible for an entire city at barely your age. And like any other person, she had feelings for one of her friends. But because of her duty as a warrior, she couldn't be with him."

"Why not?"

"Well, think about it sweetie." He said. "If you loved someone so much, would you want to keep a secret from them?"

Emma shook her head.

"Exactly. Even though the two were meant to be, she couldn't stand the thought of them being together, but not being able to tell him about her life as a warrior. She had to give up one or the other."

"And …?" Asked Emma, leaning forward.

"She chose to stay a warrior. Even though it killed her to do it, she did. She waited until the city no longer needed protecting."

"How long was that?"

"10 years." Said Adrien, grinning at Emma's look of utter shock.

"10 _years?_" she exclaimed.

"Yes, dear." he nodded. "For 10 long years, she fought like a hero, keeping her feelings tucked away. All because she had to."

Emma sat back. "Is this...a true story?" she asked.

"It sure is."

"Wow...I feel so sorry for her."

"I know, it must have been tough."

"I guess I am lucky to be able to tell him anytime…wait, but what happened to her? That warrior?"

"After all those years, she gave up her mantle, and finally got together with the person she loved. She spilled all her secrets, she dated him, and she eventually married him. And then…" Adrien trailed off, and lovingly ran his hand through Emma's hair.

"And then she had you."

Emma paused, confused for a moment. Then it all came together. The warrior mantle, the Ladybug miraculous. The city, Paris. And the warrior…

"Mom….."

Adrien nodded. Emma took a moment to wrap her head around it all. She knew the stories of her parent's superhero youth like the back of her hand, but she had never considered how long they had waited to be together. She already had a huge amount of respect her mother for being Ladybug in the first place, but this was the first time she had thought about how strong she must have been to be able to handle its effect on her everyday teenage life.

"...so, are you saying I should wait?" asked Emma nervously.

"I'm saying you need to make your own choice." answered Adrien. "Because you're lucky enough to have a choice in the first place."

He smiled sweetly as Emma went deep into thought. "You can wait, or you can tell Stephen now. It has to be your call, like how your mother made her choice to wait."

Emma turned it all over in her mind. After what felt like hours, she looked up again.

"I'm going to tell him." She said. "I think I'd better get it out of the way, and give him more time to adjust to it."

Adrien grinned. "There you go! Decision reached." He said, ruffling her hair. "I knew you'd get there eventually!"

Emma smiled. "Thanks dad." She said, planting a kiss on his cheek and scooting back to her room.

* * *

Adrien let out a happy sigh. _Look at her, _he thought, _all grown up and making her own decisions. _He was dearly proud of his little daughter. Well, not so little now.

Just as he was about to stand up, Adrien caught sight of a familiar shadow. The sound of the door creaking open and shutting again told him that somebody had been listening to their conversation.

"I thought you were taking a nap, m'lady" he said, grinning cheekily as he turned around.

He was greeted by his wife, standing behind the sofa and looking very proud of herself. She was dressed in a maroon v-neck, jeans and rocking a pixie cut and fringe.

Marinette laughed as she strolled over and sat down at the table. "I couldn't sleep. And besides, I wasn't going to miss out on a good story." She said with a wink. Adrien shook his head and laughed.

"Well, it taught her something good." He said. "She's going to tell Stephen she likes him, even if he doesn't feel the same."

"You do realise that he's completely in love with her, right?" Said Marinette.

"Yeah, but he's very good at hiding it. And besides, I want her to find out for herself. She didn't ask in the first place anyways."

The happy couple chuckled as they imagined Emma and Stephen having the conversation about liking each other. They could just see both of their tiny brains exploding as they put two and two together. At the end of the day, they were proud that Emma had opened up, and was mature in her thinking and made her own choice.

"She really is brave, that girl." Said Marinette, leaning back into her chair.

"She sure is." Said Adrien, putting a loving arm around Marinette.

"Just like her mother."

* * *

**Thank you so much for reading! This was just something I came up with the other day, just to keep the stories coming. The next one will probably be a bigger project, so look forward to that, and feel free to leave a review!**

**P.S. The next one might be quite a while, so if you would like any quick epilogues to any of the other stories I've written, I'd be happy to release them to keep the flow up! Just let me know :) **


End file.
